THE URBAN COMMUNITY CENTER

A THESIS

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

BY

MARCUS DAVID WEBB

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
STEVE WEEKS, M.ARCH Adviser
AUGUST, 2013
Copyright 2013 by MARCUS DAVID WEBB
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My mother and father, your encouragement was invaluable.

Steve Weeks for hanging with me until the end. This isnt possible without you.

Julia Robinson and Robert Adams for advice and much appreciated guidance throughout
the project.

Romano Nickerson and Dimitri Poulious for advice and direction.

Irene Mbiti for helping with the site model.

Ralph Rapson for graciously allowing to me interview him.

Linda Bryant

Jeff Robinson for the Currie Park images, 4-14-01.

Mike Christenson

Marc Swackhamer

Terry Rafferty

i
TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ii

LIST OF FIGURES iii

LIST OF FIGURES iv

LIST OF FIGURES v

THESIS OVERVIEW 1

SITE 4

PROGRAM 15

DESIGNING AN URBAN COMMUNITY CENTER 18

CONCLUSION 41

NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 42

ii
LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE

1 Cedar-Riverside West neighborhood 2

2 Jeff Robinson 2

3 Neighborhood children 2

4 Site Map 5

5 Cedar-Riverside Plaza 5

6 Site Context 6

7 Rapsons original Master Plan 7

8 Aerial Photo of Site 8

9 Southeast View of Brian Coyle Community Center 8

10 View of Downtown Looking Northwest 9

11 Brian Coyle Center Looking North 9

12 View of Downtown Looking West 9

13 View Looking Down Proposed LRT Route 9

14 View across the street from the Community Center 9

15 View of Site Looking West 9

16 Site Looking North 10

17 Right of Way Corridor 10

18 Right of Way Corridor Looking from Site 10

19 Site from LRT Route 10

20 Ralph Rapson 11

21 Process Models 20
iii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE

22 Edge Energized 21

23 Pedestrian Corridor Connection to the Site 21

24 Seabird Islands Energized Edge 22

25 Seabird Islands Energized Edge 22

26 San Juan Bautista Museum 22

27 San Juan Bautista Museum 22

28 Site Walk Thru Map 23

29 Approaching Site from East through Right of Way 23

30 View of Right of Way Looking back East 23

31 View of Site Looking West after exiting Right of Way 23

32 View of Site from Currie Park Looking West 23

33 Encroachment 24

34 Relief, Retreat 25

35 Early Retreat/Relief Room Sketches 25

36 Brion Cemetery 26

37 Brion Cemetery 26

38 Earth Wedge Space Delineation 27

39 Early Plan Scheme-Arriving at Relief/Retreat Space 28

40 Early Plan Scheme-Relationships and Adjacenies 29

41 Elevation Study Sketches 30

42 Animated Space/Active Components 31

iv

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE

43 Strawberry Vale Interior Image 31

44 Strawberry Vale Interior Image 31

45 Engaging Activities/Animated Space 33

46 Final Plan 34

47 South Elevation-View From Park 35

48 West Elevation 35

49 Final Model 36

50 Final Model 36

51 Final Model Aerial Shot-Integration of the Five Design Principles 37

52 Final Model View From Currie Park 37

53 Spatial Intensity 38

54 Spatial Intensity 38

55 Section Model-Spatial Intensity 39

56 Section Model-Spatial Intensity 39

57 Section Model-Spatial Intensity 40

v
thesis overview

1
THESIS OVERVIEW

The Cedar-Riverside-West Bank neighborhood has always been known for its diverse

collections of people from all social and cul-

tural walks of life. The neighborhood itself is

bordered by the Mississippi River to the north

and west, Interstate 94 to the south and In-

terstate 35W to the east. The majority of this

population is located in the western edge of

the neighborhood and housed in Cedar-River-

side Plaza, which is the densest concentration 1

of housing in the state of Minnesota. Designed

by Ralph Rapson in 1973, Cedar-Riverside

Plaza is made up of fifteen buildings of varying

heights that contain 1,299 apartments. Be-

hind Riverside Plaza to the west is Currie Park

which is the site of my primary investigation.

2
My thesis project will be to design an urban

community center that has a strong educa-

tional component. The keyword in that last

statement was urban, meaning to engage

the community on a physical and spiritual

level and to evoke a sense of place. The word

urban is used a contrast to suburban. One

could argue that the Brian Coyle Community

3

2
Center is suburban in that it fails to engage the community by using the suburban model

of buffer parking between the sidewalk and the building. The design of the Brian Coyle

is such that it has no real connection or reflection of the community. I would even go fur-

ther to state that one could take this community center and place it in virtually any park in

the city and it would fit. I am proposing a more urban solution that identifies directly

with the community at hand and that resonates the identity and character of the communi-

ty. An urban community center that is a designator of space and ideals and not merely an

object building in the park as is the Brian Community Center. There are many inherent

social and transit components associated with this site which will profoundly affect the

design of an urban community center. These are some of the propositions that must be

addressed in the design:

An architecture/ building/ program that reflects the composition and character of

the community while at the same time being responsive to its urban context.

Designing an applicable architecture that serves the community, given the com-

munitys social, transit and urban energies.

Designing an Urban Solution for an Urban Oasis (Currie Park)

In addition to being a designer, I have a vested interest in the project because I am a for-

mer resident of Riverside Plaza. As a user of this site I understand patterns of movement

in the community and have a strong emotional connection to the immediate community.

3
site

4
SITE

The urban context in which the site is housed is one of the many exciting aspects of the

project. The site is perched above the intersection of 35W and Washington Avenue

and will be profoundly affected by the LRT. The

juxtaposition of this mega-plex to the site offers an

interesting design challenge and unique approach

to the project. To the west and north of the site are

the intersection of 35W and Washington Avenue.

The site is bordered to the south by what will be the

4
new LRT. The only vehicle access to the site is via

15th Avenue S. that runs along the east end of the site separating it from Cedar Riverside

Plaza. Located directly the east is the Cedar-Riverside housing complex. Existing struc-

tures on the site include the Brian Coyle Community Center, parking for the community

center, a swimming pool, basketball and tennis courts, a warming house for the pool, and

two large earth mounds.

Cedar-Riverside Plaza

Perhaps the most notorious icon of the Ce-

dar-Riverside neighborhood is Cedar-Riv-

erside Plaza, a multi-colored housing

mega-plex. With its tallest building at

thirty-six stories, it dominates the skyline

and can be seen from almost anywhere in

the Minneapolis metro.

The area was initially inhabited by

German, Scandinavian and Bohemian 5

immigrants who worked in the lumber and flour mills along the Mississippi River. The

population peaked at twenty thousand in 1910, but as the milling industry declined so
5
Washington Avenue Brian Coyle Community Center

Interstate 35W Cedar-Riverside Plaza

SITE

Currie Park

Light Rail Transit Line 15th Avenue South

True North Project North

6
did the neighborhood. With the construction of I-35W and I-94, the neighborhood was

cut off from the rest of the city. In 1934 a city planning department concluded that next

to the Sumner Field area, Cedar-Riverside was in worse physical shape than any other

neighborhood in Minneapolis.

With Congress passing the 1968 Title IV New Community Legislation which provid-

ed funds for the creation of urban

developments called New Towns,

architect Ralph Rapson along with

real estate developers Martin and

Gloria Segal saw an opportunity to

bring energized, high density hous-

ing to the Cedar-Riverside West

Bank neighborhood. The goals that

Rapsons original Master Plan 7
Rapson had for the development

were optimistic and ambitious reinforced by this statement they released at the time:

It is the objective of the Cedar-Riverside Associates that people of all income

and racial groups will eventually move together and mix in Cedar-Riverside. The

imaginative use of the arts and quality human services is a practical demonstra-

tion of how rich and poor, young and old, might be brought together. Cedar-Riv-

erside will offer more than shelter, it will offer satisfaction to the individual who

contributes to the sense of life and vitality of the community and feels proud that

he lives here (Hession 193).

Rapsons Master Plan was extensive in scope. It was made up of five neighborhoods

connected by a trolley system and skyways. Four of the five neighborhoods were dedi-

cated to mixed income housing and the fifth was a community service center called The

Community Centrum. The Centrum was to contain a motor hotel, conference facilities,

7
 Aerial Photo of Site

9
Southeast View of Brian Coyle Community Center

8
 10

View of Downtown Looking Northwest 10 Brian Coyle Center Looking North 11

View of Downtown Looking West View Looking Down Proposed LRT Route
12 13

View across the street from the Community View of Site Looking West
Center 14 15

9
 11

Site Looking North 16

17 Right of Way Corridor 18 Right of Way Corridor Looking

from Site

Site from LRT Route 19

10
office, retail and commercial space, a community area, a performing arts facility, hous-

ing and parking. Had this master plan been constructed it would have contained 12,500

dwelling units, 1,500,000 square feet of commercial space and 56 acres of land desig-

nated as recreational/ park spaces. However, due to lack of

funding by a moratorium on subsidized housing and termi-

nation of the HUD supplementary grants program, only one

of the five neighborhoods, Cedar Square West, was actually

constructed. The lack of funding also cost Rapson his Kit

of Parts, which were meant to foster individual expression

and bring animation to the buildings facades (Hession 199).

The kit was comprised of elements such as panels, balcony Ralph Rapson 20
railings, sunscreens and awnings.

Interview with Ralph Rapson, March 1, 2001

Since it welcomed its first guest in April of 1973, the complex has slowly deteriorated

due to lack of upkeep and maintenance. I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Ralph

Rapson about Riverside Plaza and the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. Initially, the

economic composition of the complex was to be a mix of student housing, market rate

housing and subsidized housing. But when the government stepped in, they made it

50% subsidized housing, a move that Mr. Rapson feels contributed to the deterioration

of the complex. It isnt that he necessarily believes that subsidized housing is a bad, but

it doesnt contribute to the balance of economic diversity he hoped for in the original

concept of the project.

The surrounding neighborhood has taken an economic downturn in the last few years.

Many specialty shops, restaurants and other businesses have moved out of the neighbor-

hood, and just recently historic Dania Hall burned down. With many of the businesses

moving out, the neighborhood funded Cedarfest hasnt happened for the last two years

and there is a strong possibility that it might not happen this year as well. Cedarfest was
11
a festival that the community took pride in and came out in full force to support. The

lack of the festival, I feel has left a hole in the character of the community. Along these

lines, Mr. Rapson feels that the University of Minnesotas Carlson School and its in-

house dining components have hurt and closed many of the local restaurants.

Behind Riverside Plaza (to the west) is a series of one and two story poorly main-

tained buildings. Mr. Rapson sites that the property in which the buildings are sited are

owned by Riverside Plaza. The small buildings and businesses obtained permits in a

legal loophole and are engaged with Riverside Plaza and the city of Minneapolis in a

legal war. Mr. Rapson hopes that the owners of Riverside Plaza and the city prevail and

develop the land into low-rise affordable housing. According to Mr. Rapson, Riverside

Plaza needs active housing around it.

Understanding the Brian Coyle Community Center

The Brian Coyle Community Center is actually the inspiration for the body of work I am

embarking on. Ive always felt that the community center never fit the community and

that it felt out of place in the urban context it is currently housed in.

On January 31, 2001 I conducted an interview with Linda Bryant Director of the Brian

Coyle Community Center. Like myself, Linda Bryant has and still does live in the Cedar

Riverside neighborhood. She has lived in the community for 17 years and was heavily

involved in the planning of the Coyle Community Center. The Community Center is 7

years old and according to Bryant, they outgrew the building after two years.

There are many classes and programs that take place at the Community Center. Forty

percent of all programs are for educational purposes. Some of these programs include af-

ter school tutoring programs, GED classes, the Food Shelf, computer classes and English

As Second Language classes. In addition to these programs there several affiliate pro-

grams such as Americor housed in the Brian Coyle Community Center. After school tu-

toring takes place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. The building was initially spon-

sored by the Pillsbury Corporation and the land and building are rented from the City of
12
Minneapolis at $1 a year. There is approximately 31 adjunct staff mostly compromised

of people from the Minneapolis Urban League and the Minneapolis Public School Dis-

trict. Sixty percent of the community centers budget is dedicated to staff. In addition

to the regular paid staff there are over 70 volunteers that work at the center throughout

the year helping with special events. Linda Bryant estimates that nearly 1,000 people

per day use the community center and that number naturally increases in the summer.

Bryant and I had an insightful conversation about the needs and issues of the com-

munity center and of the community as a whole. The Cedar Riverside neighborhood

is an ever changing community both physically and culturally. Always as culturally

diverse neighborhood, it has recently within the last couple of years seen a boom in the

Somalian population. According to my initial thesis I sought to reflect the composition

and culture of the community through the architecture. After discussing the ever chang-

ing nature of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, this reflection of culture might not be

so evident in the exterior shell of the building, but rather within the interior components

of the building. Space within the community center was a major concern of Bryants.

Many community organizations lease space from the community center and there is not

enough space to properly accommodate them. To minimally accommodate some of

the organizations, rooms must be shared which means that many of the paid staff of the

community centers often share office desk and are even housed in closets turned office

space. If she could have it her way Bryant stated that she would like more educational

facilities and programs to be added to the center. Her wish list included:

13
 Art Room

Dance Studio

An adequate Computer Room

4 Mulit-Purpose Rooms

Library

Gathering Place for cultural events

Park Board Community Caf

The Park Board Community Caf would be owned by the Minneapolis Park Board and

they would lease the space from the community center. Bryant thought this would be a

nice way to have an informal retail component within the center. The proximity of the

basketball courts to the freeway is particularly troubling to her though there is a fence that

surrounds the courts.

Bryant is also concerned about the Light Rail Transit and the intrusive nature it will

have on the site. She feels that the greenspace is an important component of the com-

munity center. Like myself, she questions the basic fundamentals of the LRT and whom

it is meant to serve. One question we posed in our conversation was, How does the LRT

benefit the inner city?

This conversation only reinforced the notions of the community center not fitting physical

and spiritual needs of the community and that an urban solution for an urban community

center is needed.

14
program

15
Program

There are only two parks located in the Cedar-Riverside-West Bank neighborhood,

Currie Park (the site) and Murphy Square which is located in the far east corner of the

neighborhood. One of the things that make this site so interesting is the way in which

it exists in the urban context. It exists as a spatial relief to the density of Riverside Pla-

za. It is an urban oasis. The open greenspace of the site starkly contrast the concrete

density of Riverside Plaza and the unrelenting I-35W. It is a physical and mental relief,

and the proof is in the number of people that come to the site to gather, recreate,

socialize and celebrate. The program for the urban community center is a collection of

parts of sorts. It is pragmatic and functional on one hand and on the other it is based

off intangibles such as forces, connections to site and gathering nodes.

16
Program for an Urban Community-Education Center

Art Room

Dance Studio

Small Theater

Computer Room

4-5 Multipurpose Rooms/ Large Classrooms

Library

Gym w/ Lockers and Restrooms

Large Conference Room

Large Office Workspace

Staff Conference Room

Directors Office

Common Area/ Reception Area This space will be the knuckle or the fulcrum

of the building. This space should read as a place of arrival, a hub in the journey,

the main gathering space, a gallery space and most importantly should be one the

most energized spaces in the building.

Reflection/ Retreat Room Thinking along the lines of oasis there should be a

room that is not about transition, but of dormancy, contemplation and rest. This

is a community where many people are social and political refugees. This would

be a space where the mind and body can be at peace.

Caf This component of the building serves the purpose of energizing the gath-

ering aspect of place. This space is something that can be directly accessible from

the exterior of the building as well as from the interior.

Business Lease Space

17
Designing an Urban
Community Center

18
Design Overview

I felt it was important for the building to resonate the identity, character and energy of

the community. The character of the neighborhood is a diverse collection of people

from countries around the world. When you stand in Currie park on any given sum-

mer day, you can feel the energy of the community within the park. There are people

gathering, children playing basketball, soccer and football and tennis. It is truly the

neighborhood melting pot and a place of welcome retreat and relief.

There were several main guiding principles in the design of the new community cen-

ter. Of course there was program, but there was also the idea that the new community

center should, in spirit represent and reflect energies of the animated oasis in which it

will sit in. A series of study models were developed to help understand the massing of

the program elements and guide design principles. The series of study models reflect

the five design principles and how they apply to the development of the new Urban

Community Center. Those five principles are as follows:

1. Energized Edge

2. Encroachment

3. Relief/ Retreat

4. Animated Space/ Active Components

5. Engaging Activities/ Animated Space

19
PROCESS MODELS

edge energized

encroachment

relief/ retreat

21

animated space/
active components

engaging activities/
animated space

20
Edge Energized

One of the many

problems with the

existing community

center is that it fails

to directly engage

the park where 22

most of the community activity or energy takes place. As the highlighted study model

suggest, I am proposing to create an edge or building faade that opens up to the park

physically and physiologically. This edge would be transparent in nature so that the peo-

ple in the park could see activities and events taking place in the community center and

vice versa. Along this energized edge would be program components like multi-purpose

activity rooms and the community caf. Along the exterior is a walkway which is an ex-

tension of the pedestrian corridor (formerly 5th street) that runs through Riverside Plaza.

(See site diagram

on right) Most pe-

destrian traffic from

the community is
through the Ce-

dar-Riverside Plaza
Pedestrian Corridor Connection to Site
right-of-way which
23
was at one time 5th street. I identified this axis as one of significance that could become

an armature of the experience of arriving at the site, circulating within the site and build-

ing, and engaging building components and spaces.

If a cross section were taken from the park through the building, one would be able to see

how the edge of the building becomes blurred with the park and its activities. In the park

there would be people gathering and playing. The Seabird Island School is a precedent
21
I looked to for an energized edge along the

exterior of the building. This energy would

extend into the building where people

would circulate and penetrate along the

edges.

I see this transparent edge similar in na-

ture to the Sant Juan Bautista Museum in Seabird Islands Energized Edge
24
Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Japan. This is a

museum for the early ship building trades.

One of the man spines of the building is a

glass corridor were the edge of the building

becomes blurred with the activity/display of

the shipyard and the interior of the museum.

Seabird Islands Energized Edge 25

26 27

Sant Juan Bautista Museum

22
 28

29 28
Approaching Site from East View of Right-of-Way Looking back
through Right-of-Way East

31 32
View of Site Looking West after View of Site from Currie Park Look-
exiting Right-Of-Way ing West

23
Encroachment

Encroachment

is a term used to

describe a certain

tectonic expression

Im seeking in the

building. There is

a theme beginning 33
to build in the design of the urban community center of blurred lines and interactive ele-

ments with park and building. Encroachment is about bringing this theme deeper into the

building. Instead of creating a clean layout of columns, I though it might be a bit more

interesting to let the columns be exposed and canted. The idea of canted columns is that

while they encroach on internal circulation space, they at the same time engergize what

might be a rather sterile corridor and also begin to create pockets of gathering between

wall and the columns. There is also the idea that the exposed beams are an expression of

bringing the outside to the inside. While at this time it is not certain if the building will

be a two story space, I am certain that there will be a two story tectonic expression of

encroachment.

Encroachment is how the form of the building is beginning to take shape. The ener-

gized edge and the more solid aspect of the building (the gym is represented as three

walls north of the columns in the model) collide with each other, further blurring delin-

24
Relief/ Retreat

This is going back

to an early program

notion of creating

a reflection/ retreat

room that would be

a room or space that 34

is not about transition, but dormancy, contemplation

and rest. This is a community where many people are

social and political refugees. The idea in this working

model was to create a place where the mind and body

can be at peace. It made sense to put this space behind

the building with the building, highway and an earth

wall as the walls of this exterior space. This space is

also the terminus of what is the exterior corridor that

runs along the park faade of the building. I initially

had the idea that the retreat area would be an object or

room one would inhabit, but as the model was devel-

Early Retreat/ Relief 35
oped, the room became an outdoor room (See intial Room Sketches

retreat room sketches). And as the concept of an outdoor room evolved, so did the notion

of the use of the room itself. This space evolved from an architecturally ideal space to

something that was a bit more pragmatic and that could actually be something that could

be used as a breakout space for community center activities. A recessed space is show in

this model as working idea. This recessed space however, makes the relief room feel like

a plaza or stage where occupants might feel like fish in a fish bowl being leered upon. A

valid critique of the recessed space.

25
Brion Cemetery in San Vito dAlitvole, Treviso by Carlos

Scarpa happens to be one of my favorite architectural compo-

sitions. There is a deliberate composition of interrelated parts

that lead and bring you to various points of resolution and sym-

bolism. I used this as a precedent for the relief/retreat aspect of

the design because like the Brion Cemetery the Urban Commu-

nity Center is set up as a procession of emotions that terminates

in a space of architectural and physiological resolution.

In addition to exploring the notion of relief/ retreat, this model Brion Cemetery 36

was an exploration of massing and adjacencies. The gym is

located on the north end of the building and the administration

offices face 15th Avenue South. The gym and the office are the

solids composed of C.M.U. and red brick respectively. On

the south side of the building is the grouping of the caf which

directly face the park and the multi-purpose rooms. The spaces

are glass and transparent and run along the entire south side/

park faade. The second floor of the south side is the library to

the west and classrooms to the east. The exterior skin of these

spaces want to be metallic and light to compliment the open- Brion Cemetery 37

ness of the south faade and also contrast the solids of the gym and one story office space

to the north and east respectively. The wedge shaped earth wall at the west end of the site

is a space delineator that separates the park from the retreat/relief space. It is a deliberate

shift in philosophy and materials from the glassy/ transparent south faade of the build-

ing. The earth wall reinforces two things:

1. The axis of the right-of-way through Riverside Plaza

2. Picks up on the axis of procession to the relief/ retreat space.

26
Earth Wedge Space Delination 38

27
Early Plan Scheme - Arriving at Relief/ Retreat Space 39

28
Early Plan Scheme - Relationships and Adjacenies 40

29
Elevation Study Sketches 41

30
Animated Space/
Active Compo-
nents

I have been in

many community

centers, urban and

suburban and one

issue I had with 42

many of these spaces was the contradiction between the essence of the program of a com-

munity center with the actual design of the building. Community centers are extraordi-

nary hubs of energy and program. When you walk through the doors of most community

centers you hear and see the program. Children talking and laughing, people gathering,

classes in session, teaching, learning, growing, etc. I wanted to bring the passion of the

program into the actual architecture of the spaces. This model of Animated Space/ Active

Components began to incorporate the concepts of energized edge and encroachment

to make a program and architecture that was tectonic in nature. Canted

columns support

unparallel struc-

ture that animates

and brings a spatial

intensity to the

main spine of the

building. The

two-story spine of

the building now

44
43
Strawberry Vale Interior Image Strawberry Vale Interior Image

31
has columns and beams flying everywhere. Children play, light dances and bounces

through and off the unbalanced off-rhythmic unbalanced structure. Animated space is

about letting the playful nature of the program of the urban community center guide the

design of the space. Animation isnt static, it isnt regulated to a linear system. Anima-

tion is playful, its fun, its dramatic and sometimes over the top and unjustified! When

I walk in an animated space, I dont want to see white hallways and systematic lighting,

I want to see, hear and feel the space. Strawberry Vale school by Patkau Architects is the

definition of spatial intensity. Canted structure breaks down corridors and in turn creates

secondary pockets of gathering spaces. These intrusive approaches to Strawberry Vale

are some of the very principles I look to implement into my building.

32
Engaging Ac-
tivities/ Animated
Space

The final study

model in this series

deals with engag-

ing activities in

conjunction with
45
animated space.

This model takes the notions of gathering and spatial animation and allows these ideas

to encroach into the design of the program spaces. The animated structure erodes away

the skin of the walls and creates pockets of gathering spaces throughout the building.

Catwalks connect the library on the second floor at the end of the building to the gym

across the animated corridor. There is really no programmed space in the building that is

not visually or acoustically separated from anyone. This study brings all of the previous

studies together in what eventually becomes the design and layout of the building.

Plan

The final plan drawing of the building is a combination of the first floor and the second

floor plan. It is combined because I see the building as one place of active compo-

nents and interactive spaces. The second floor is only a name sake because the expe-

rience of the building isnt regulated to a floor by floor experience; it is a total spatial

experience. If you enter the building via the front entrance, you will see canted off-

rythmic columns, catwalks, a solid to the north in the gym, a glass dance studio at the

western end of the building and half height/ partial walls of the multipurpose rooms

to the south with a glimpses of Currie Park through the multipurpose rooms.

33
 2 1
(4)

8 10 11
7
(5)
6 9

23 23
23 23

12 15
17
14 (16)
(18)
(13) 20
19

21
Final Plan
22

1. Gymnasium 13. Library (2nd floor)

2. Computer Room 14. Multi-purpose Room
3. Art Room 15. Multi-purpose Room
4. Small Theater (2nd floor) 16. Classroom (2nd floor)
5. Glass Dance Studio (2nd floor) 46
17. Multi-purpose Room
6. Retreat/ Relief Area 18. Classroom (2nd floor)
7. Restroom/ Showers 19. Community Cafe
8. Restrooms/ Showers 20. Entrance
9. Active Corridor/ Spine 21. Relief/ Retreat Processional
10. Pocket of Gathering 22. Currie Park
11. Administrative Offices 23. Workstations
12. Multi-purpose Room
34
35
South Elevation - View From Park
47

48
West Elevation
 49
Final Model

50

36
Final Model Aerial Shot - Integration of the five design principles 51

52
Final Model View From Currie Park
37
Spatial Intensity

Part of what made this process, in my

opinion, successful was building what

I felt and actually getting inside the

spaces through the use of models. This

section model was key to allowing

people to see the space and obtain an

understanding of the spatial intensity I

sought to create. The sectional model is

a cut at the western end of the build-

ing and shows the spatial relationship

between the gym, the active corridor,

columns, the library and the catwalk

that is the primary means of circulation

53

38 54
 19

Section Model - Spatial Intensity 55

56
39
 57
Section Model - Spatial Intensity

40
Conclusion

Community is a special thing. Many people live in neighborhoods but are not a part of

a community. This is what makes this neighborhood so special. A strong urban com-

munity deserves a community center that has a strong presence and evokes the identity

of the community. I feel my design of an urban community center identifies directly

with the community at and resonates the identity and character of the community. This

community will continue to evolve and change as it has over the years as will the space

I designed to accommodate the community.

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Notes

1. An interview with Linda Bryant director of the Brian Coyle Community Center

was conducted on January 31, 2001

2. An interview with Ralph Rapson was conducted on March 1, 2001

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Bibliography

Carter, Brian (1994) Patkau Architects: Selected Projects 1983-1993: Vancouver: Tuns

Press

Hession, Jane King (1999) Ralph Rapson Sixty Years of Modern Design. Afton: Af-

ton Historical Society Press

Crippa, Maria Antonietta (1986) Carlo Scarpa : Theory, Design, Projects. Cambridge:

The MIT Press

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